Award
winning director Todd Jarrell's vision of a documentary featuring an insider's
glimpse of the tuba world is about to unfold this spring. Jarrell stated,
"This program is meant to introduce the general public to the tuba, its
people, its history, and even its anatomy. Most people will find out that,
despite its small amount of literature, the tuba is actually an extremely agile
instrument with the greatest octave range. It's a "who knew?" piece
about an unheralded horn"

Using
the title, "Tuba U: Basso Profundo", the journey first begins with R.
Winston Morris and the Tennessee Tech Tuba Ensemble and the story behind
Morris' nine commissions for new tuba music by composers such as Martin
Ellerby, Eric Ewazen, Adam Gorb, Greg Danner and Gunther Schuller.

Jarrell
focuses on Gorb and Schuller as the ensemble rehearses and records their pieces
for the Tech Ensemble's 23rd album. Jarrell traces Winston Morris's lineage of
tuba teachers from Bill Bell and Harvey Phillips and even features exclusive
footage at the Miraphone plant with Marcus Theinert, as well as an appointment
to take a tuba into a medical office to give it a professional
"tuba-oscopy."

Other features include a
mind-blowing performance by Scott Beaver from the West Point Military Band.
Finally, the cameras board the bus to follow the band to their 7th appearance
at the Weill Recital hall at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

TTU
Becomes TUBA U in National PBS Documentary

Tennessee Tech
University VISIONS magazine, Summer 2009

It’s the most recorded group of its kind in history and has presented
multiple concerts at New York’s famed Carnegie Hall. Now, the Tennessee Tech
Tuba Ensemble, along with founder and director R. Winston Morris, have been
featured on the small screen in a national PBS documentary.

Written and directed by Emmy-winner Todd Jarrell and presented by
Cookeville’s local PBS television station, WCTE-TV, Tuba U:
Basso Profundo premiered last April.

“The documentary delivers the history, physicality and personalities
of the humble tuba — an amazing, if unheralded, horn,” Jarrell said. “Tubas
are [commonly] viewed as simplistic, un-sexy — ridiculous even. But with
an octave range greater than any other horn, the dexterity with which these
tubists excel is remarkable.”

Tuba U: Basso Profundo follows the history of the tuba from Bill
Bell, tubist for John Philip Sousa, to Bell’s student Harvey Phillips, to his
protégé Morris. It explores what Jarrell calls Morris’ “curious tuba tribe” —
the TTTE student tuba and euphonium ensemble Morris founded at the university
more than 40 years ago and still directs today.

By founding and energetically promoting the TTTE, one of the first
groups of its kind in history, Jarrell said, “Morris is responsible for more
music being written for the instrument than anyone — ever.”

The half-hour documentary surgically scopes the inside of a tuba,
takes viewers to a German tuba factory and follows Morris and the TTTE into the
recording studio, across the country and at the group’s 40th anniversary
performance at Carnegie Hall.

It closes with the performance of a piece the TTTE commissioned from
Gunther Schuller, America’s most significant living composer. Titled “Refrains,”
it has been hailed by critics as a “cutting edge … landmark work.”

DENNIS
ASKEW broadcast review:

Hats off to Todd Jarrell and Winston Morris for producing an
insightful and to the point documentary about the tuba family and specifically,
tuba ensemble!

Long under-rated, the tuba family of instruments and the tuba
euphonium ensemble is explained, heralded and lauded in this production.
Utilizing the backdrop of the 40th Anniversary of the Tennessee Tech Tuba
Ensemble, the documentary allows even the most uninitiated viewer to develop an
understanding and appreciation for this group of instruments. Opening
with a convenient, if not slightly pedestrian, reference to the sousaphone in
the marching band, (immediately followed by some quite virtuosic playing) the
film unveils quite a bit of history about the instruments and the TTTE
ensemble, providing the audience with a nice double layered story. On one
layer is the story of the 40th anniversary concerts and subsequent tour,
culminating in a performance at historic Carnegie Hall, while the other gives a
brief history of the instrument, how it is manufactured and other details that
would not be known to the average viewer.

As I was “growing up” in the tuba world, Winston Morris was as much of
an idol as I had along the way. I had very strong feelings for all of my
teachers, (and still do) but Winston and his ensemble were “it”. What I
have developed with my own ensembles is but a weak tribute to his ground
breaking developments with the TTTE ensembles over the years. Developing
players through homogeneous ensembles is a critical part of developing
performers, and Winston lead the way—it’s no wonder his students have
been so successful in their lives!

This documentary will undoubtedly find favor in a wide cross section
of the populace. It provides a good glimpse into the tuba family at the
academic level, and as such will likely allow the “non-believer” to gain a
wider appreciation for what the tuba performer can, in fact, do.

Dennis AsKew

President, International Tuba Euphonium
Association

SCOTT
WATSON dvd review

for
the International Tuba/Euphonium Association JOURNAL

TUBA U: Basso Profundo
featuring R. Winston Morris and the Tennessee Tech Tuba Ensemble DVD recording. Available from WCTE (Upper
Cumberland Public Television) at www.wcte.org.
Look for the link in the right bottom corner when it appears in a random
order with other links. $14.99 & $3.00 S&H., PayPal account needed.

For
those who may have missed the premiere of this documentary on Public Television
this past spring, I am glad to say that the DVD is now available from TWO SIX
inc. and WCTE. (Upper Cumberland Public Television)

The
national airing of this groundbreaking documentary for our instruments was a
real first.Its subject is the
wonderful recording and Carnegie Hall performance by a true all-star ensemble
oftwenty-two Tennessee Tech
graduates, assembled by R. Winston Morris.These alums are all major performers, teachers, and
pedagogues in this country. The half hour documentary, directed, written, and
produced by Todd Jarrell centers largely on the Herculean task by Professor
Morris and the ensemble of preparing some nine new pieces by top composers such
as Gunther Schuller, Martin Ellerby, and Adam Gorb in only four days before
recording them, and later performing them at Carnegie Hall in New York in
January, 2008.

Being
that this is intended for a general audience the documentary also introduces
the role of the tuba and euphonium in its early minutes, including a brief
section from the Tennessee Tech Marching Band at a football game.It also does fine justice to the career
of R. Winston Morris and Winston’s vital role in establishing not only a
renowned tuba-euphonium studio at Tennessee Tech, but also the equally renown
Tennessee Tech Tuba Ensemble. His important relationships with mentors William
Bell and Harvey Phillips are also covered. Early photographs from Winston’s
high school and college years will be of great interest to those aware of his
exemplary career.

Some other highlights for me were the
jaw dropping Haydn performance by alum Sgt. Scott Beaver of the West Point Band
in the first section of the program; Charles McAdams thoughtful historical
comments on Professor Morris and the Tennessee Tech Ensemble; video of
rehearsal moments, especially the high energy exultations to the ensemble by
Gunther Schuller as they tackled his immensely complex work; and the
well-placed comments by other composers and performers such as Adam Gorb and
Richard Perry.

Production
and sound quality is very high on this DVD.Graphics are not flashy but clean visually.Being a Public television release,
extra bells and whistles in graphics and extra material is not to be expected.
My only wish was that it could have been longer; for I am certain that there
was much original footage and subject matter that could not be used when held
to a half-hour format.As a result
the documentary has to rush somewhat into the Carnegie Hall performance and
conclusion at the end.

Still
this documentary is a high quality DVD that will be a fine way to introduce our
instruments to the music students and the general public, as well as stand as
important archival proof of this very successful creative project by titans of
our instruments.This DVD is
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

For
those wishing to research more on the subject you should first listen to the CD
titled Legacy on Mark Records for
this project was massive in scope, commissioning nine major composers for an
equal number of new works.The
result of this project has drastically improved the repertoire of the
tuba-euphonium ensemble genre.